Anyway, I have decided to share an observation that I have had for a whole but not shared.
I have been a commuter for over a decade and seen many weird and sometimes wonderful things. However, I have a terrible habit of judging my fellow commuters, putting them into categories and therefore judging them on sight. A bad habit I know but a minor cross to bear in the great scheme of life. Firstly there are "the greys" these are the city types. An army if you like, of ashen faced, pin stripe wearing newspaper carriers. They travel to London at the crack of dawn, they show no outward emotion or have any distinctive feature that differentiates themselves from the one behind or the one in front. They work long hours for a soulless multinational financial institution, earn a lot of money yet never spend any of it on themselves. Their younger wives do this for them. They are at home, usually a Victorian semi, driving their 2 ridiculously named children (rupert and briony) to school half a mile down the road in an over furnished agricultural vehicle which can navigate the toughest terrain known to man, but as long as it is bigger and shinier than the other mummy's, will suffice for now. "The Greys" return home after 8 pm and can only look forward to a microwave waitrose dinner, no sex and a credit card bill littered with trips to the spa and a gym membership for the woman who spends an awful lot of time and money to look good without them personally reaping the rewards.
Next, come "the clones" these are the guys in their mid twenties who wear shiny suits, an awful lot of hair product and pointy shoes. These guys are the lost souls as they are "the greys" of the future. Yes, they sit on their tablets or smartphones playing games and spend the weekends buying drinks and snorting drugs and having sex with costumed, perma tanned young girls who appreciate the free drinks and attention, this however is the pre cursor. Let me explain, in time, the mundane junior jobs these guys hold will, with effort result in a higher office which is what they aspire to, in reality it means them working longer hours for more money and less time to themselves. Thus evolving into one of the greys. In 25 years time they will kick themselves.
Other groups are the students, who have silly haircuts and shuffle around like zombies, dragging their feet and grunting at random, often playing crap "music" from their smartphones. Lastly, and possibly the worst, for me, are the chavs. These are the 30 stone women in leggings, who shout swear words non stop followed by a group of unkempt urchins with equally ridiculous names as the children of the greys (britney and Blaze) who pick chips from their paper Mcdonalds bags, while their mother struggles with several giant Primark Bags full of more poorly fitting leggings and t-shirts emblazoned with motivational slogans such as "bootylicious". I never understand whether these are worn in an ironic way or just deluded.
These are generalisations obviously, put these seem to be the types of people that I am forced to share a space with for several hours a week. My point is that I see this and wonder which category I fall into? I am sure people that know me would offer a suggestion! Hence, my putting my thoughts on here rather than verbalising directly to them. The way I see it, is that I dance to my own beat, resulting, quite often to my own detriment , me not fitting in any of them and leaving myself with nonsense of identity. Perhaps I will start a new group called the "indecisive mavericks". In the mean time I will keep my head down and my headphones in.
